A frown etched on Adrian's face. Do they not trust his vision? But he knew that paperwork and confirmation were the backbone of this government. So, they really could not avoid it. They could only delay it. To be honest, he just wanted to take his bride away. This place was too crowded.
"Where do you want to go first, home or the testing center?" Adrian politely asked for Arella's advice.
"Let's go to the center first." Arella reined in her wild thoughts and focused on the present. She too, was curious. They had a soul knot, so their spiritual connection could not be denied. What made her curious was the percentage. How compatible were they?
"Okay. Make preparations. We will leave for the headquarters first." Adrian commanded the nearby soldier.
Adrian moved towards the exit. They were still holding hands. When he moved, people instinctively made way for him. After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
"Do you want to meet your family before leaving?" Adrian considerately inquired.
Family. Yes, she should say goodbye to them. After all, she has no plans of coming back. She looked around and spotted her father. He was the only person she wanted to bid adieu to.
But the problem was, he was standing with her stepmother, half-sister, and Luke. They were happily engaged in a conversation. If she barged into their merriment, they would become uncomfortable, wouldn't they? It was awkward for her too.
Just as she was entangled with the thoughts of whether to go or not to go, her father raised his head and looked at her. Arella caught his gaze and looked at him expectantly.
He raised his glass, nodded towards her, and then drank the wine in one gulp. He was toasting, cheering, and congratulating her from the distance. He did not even bother to walk towards her. Just like a perfect acquaintance!
Arella nodded and acknowledged his congratulations. What else was she expecting? The rest of her family did not even look at her.
She turned towards Adrian and said, "Let's go."
Even Adrian felt a little uncomfortable at the cold reaction of her father. He took back his hand that was holding her. This action rendered her speechless. What? He too, wanted to put a distance between them, just like her family. Would he also give her a cold shoulder?
Then, within an instant, he wrapped it around her waist and brought her closer to his body. Then, without any change in his expressions, he started moving out of the hall.
The people from the army followed them closely behind. In a moment, the chatter died down, and everybody looked towards the leaving couple silently. They knew that Arella had hit a jackpot. Lavish life waited for her. But other than enjoying a worry-free life filled with respect, there was nothing in store for her.
With such a huge gap between their ranks, her life would be riddled with problems. The first one was the spiritual support. She could never calm his raging beast.
Then came the issue of offspring. An alliance between D and A rank was unheard of. They were actually curious what would a child born out of such a union be? A genius? Mutant? Or An Idiot?
Had it not been for the blood oath and soul knot, the ruler wouldn't have let go of such a fine beast man, forcing him to marry again.
Arella's presence was like a shackle. She could not help tame his beast. She could not give birth to a high-ranked offspring for him. She could not help him in his career. She could do nothing. And in this era, when aptitude was everything, she was not even a name worth remembering.
So, people looked down on Arella. They even despised her a little bit. They saw her as a black blotch on Adrian's life. How could he have a soul knot with such a waste? And he took the blood oath too! Wasn't he concerned about his career?
An A-ranked beast! How could a D-ranked tamer calm his raging beast? Arella would either die young or be forgotten after giving birth. Both cases were equally bad. Another thing that baffled the onlookers was their spiritual connection.
They never took one. But since they could tie a soul knot without any intervention by their beast, that meant their connection was already above the minimum threshold. But how could a high-level beast be pacified by a low-ranked tamer?
Clansmen, in illegal circles, even started betting on the percentage of their spiritual connection! Most of them speculated it to be between 70 to 75% Some even had a far-fetched estimation of 85%, but nobody bet on anything higher.
In the beast world, gossip travels very fast. This is because many E and D-level beasts had the spirit of birds. They did not have much power but were very fast.
The news of betting soon reached the ears of Adrian. At this moment, he was comfortably seated in his private airship. Listening to the news, he did not react much. The attendant was expecting orders like banning the bet, disturbing the better's lives, or a raid on the illegally run organization. But nothing happened.
"100%" Adrian spoke in a determined voice. Put my bet on 100%."
For a moment, the attendant thought that his boss was joking! 100%!! Since the formation of the beast clan, people who had a spiritual connection of 100% could be counted on one hand!
100% connection meant that the beast would bow down to their partners. How could any proud beast bow down in front of anybody? Especially when they had ranks of B or higher! His boss himself was ranked A. And his beast form was the proud denizen of Heaven! How could his beast bow down to the unknown beast spirit of a D rank tamer?
The jaw of the attendant remained open as thoughts and questions swirled in his head. Seeing the lack of response, Adrian asked in a stern voice, "Did I not make myself clear?"
"Yes Sir. All Clear!" A loud voice echoed in the cubicle of the airship. Ages of military training had made the attendant instinctively react in a particularly loud manner.
"Do you want to scare my wife?" Adrian became more disgusted with his attendant. Fortunately, his wife was using the restroom, which was soundproof.
"Sorry, Sir!" Another loud voice boomed in the airship. The attendant felt like smacking himself for his stupidity!
"Be quiet and leave." Adrian did not want to waste his time with this silly attendant.
"And before leaving, order two sets of seafood." Adrian hurriedly shooed the attendant away.
Seeing that the attendant had left, Adrian moved toward the pilot's cubicle and found the pilot.
"Fly high and keep the speed at the minimum. We should reach headquarters only in an hour. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!" The pilot responded in a loud voice.
A speechless expression crossed Adrian's face. A bunch of buffoons! What is wrong with everybody? Don't they know that their loud voices could scare his wife? Did not they notice how fragile and delicate she was?
"Keep your voice low. If not necessary, don't disturb us." Adrian left the cubicle and went back to the spacious room.